Suchergebnisse

This study examined psychosocial issues within Army families and the contribution of support networks to spouses' well-being and to their desire that their soldiers remain in the Army. Data from a self-administered questionnaire were analyzed for 137 spouses from the active duty component, 410 from the National Guard, and 174 from the reserve. Differences among the three groups were found with regard to both the composition of their social support networks as well as their use of such networks. Use of support was associated with well-being, but not with retention.

As women assume more combat roles in the US military and continue to operate in austere environments with varied mission sets, the Department of Defense must rethink its approach to equipment and uniform development to accommodate female anatomical differences. This article analyzes the results of a study conducted during the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the United States Military Academy to determine the effectiveness of commercial off-the-shelf products the Army has adopted to aid female urination—products used by competition participants that may not be the best or healthiest options for women.

Adopting M. Segal's framework, we focused on examining four military lifestyle demands—(1) risk of service member injury or death, (2) frequent relocations, (3) periodic separations, and (4) foreign residence—and their relationships to psychological and physical well-being, satisfaction with the Army, and marital satisfaction. Questionnaire results from 346 spouses living overseas indicated that the impact of separations was negatively related to all four outcomes, while foreign residence was negatively related to physical and psychological well-being, fear for soldier safety was negatively related to physical well-being, and the impact of moving was negatively related to satisfaction with the Army. The results further indicated that perceptions of moving and separations were more important in determining outcomes than were the actual number of moves or separations.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has mandated development of a system to collect and manage data on the weight, percent body fat (), and fitness of all military personnel. This project aimed to (1) develop a computerized weight and fitness database to track individuals and Army units over time allowing cross-sectional and longitudinal evaluations and (2) test the computerized system for feasibility and integrity of data collection over several years of usage. The computer application, the Military Services Fitness Database (MSFD), was designed for (1) storage and tracking of data related to height, weight, for the Army Weight Control Program (AWCP) and Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) scores and (2) generation of reports using these data. A 2.5-year pilot test of the MSFD indicated that it monitors population and individual trends of changing body weight, , and fitness in a military population.